Do Over
by Murgy31
Summary: What would happen if we got one do over in life? MerDer, MerAlex, MerMark, and others. ***NOW COMPLETE***
1. Do Over

A/N: This story is a little Mer/Der story that I created as a Thank you to someone who doesn't want to be named. LOL! The story is mainly from Meredith's POV, but there is some Derek thrown in for good Measure!!!

Summary: What would happen if we got one do over in life?

**DO OVER**

_What would happen if we got one do over in life? What would we use it on? Where would we even begin?_

_I often think about these things as I sit nursing my morning coffee. I even think about these things when I am eating with my friends in the hospital cafeteria. I especially think about these things when I am lying in bed at night, because I can't sleep. You see my dark and twisty nature prevents me from sleeping like a normal person. I therefore have to wonder what would happen if I got a do over, and what would I choose?_

Meredith slowly made her way into OR 3. She knew that he would be there. McDreamy, how often had she thought about him over the past few months? How many times had she agonized over him? How many times had she gotten McDrunk on tequila over McDreamy? _I think I have lost count, _she thought. What she had decided, however, that now was the time for action. Addison wanted a fight; she was going to get one. _I just have to be honest right?_ She mused. _How hard can that be?_ She slowly inhaled, and pushed the doors open to the scrub room.

He was standing over the sink looking all McDreamy-like when she entered the room. Meredith closed her eyes, and took a deep breathe before she walked over to him with determination in her eyes.

"Derek, I have to talk to you." She said stopping in front of him.

"What is it Meredith?" He asked turning toward her.

"I know I said that it didn't matter to me what happened between you and Addison, but it does," Meredith drew in a deep breath. "I love you Derek, probably more then I should. Probably more then any intern has the right to love her boss, but that changes nothing."

"Mere, I..." He started, but she cut him off by lifting her hand up in protest

"NO! Please don't say anything now. I am asking you to Pick me, choose me, Love me Derek," She emphatically stated. "If you were to reject me now, I could take it." She finally stopped long enough to look at him. He had an amused look in his eye, and he looked like he was doing his level best not to laugh at her.

"I'll be at Joe's after my shift," She said. "If I am the one that you want, you'll be there Derek." With that she turned on her heel, and walked out the door. Derek sighed, and went back to work.

Meredith had been waiting at the bar for awhile now, and Derek had yet to show. _He is not going to show up_, she thought miserably. The bar was just about to close when the door chime sounded. Meredith turned her head expectantly, not daring to get her hopes again only to have them dashed.

Derek apprehensively walked into the bar. He was running late, and he knew she would be waiting for him. She would probably think that he chose Addison by now. _What if she's not there?_ He shook that thought from his head, and looked around for his Meredith.

She saw him when he walked through the door, but she was in such shock she didn't move a muscle. It was only when Derek came up to stand in front of her did she look into his eyes.

"I pick you Meredith, I choose you, I love you my sweet, lovable, talkative, dark and twisty soul mate. You are the air that I breathe, you are my lifeline and saving grace, you are my everything," He said as he picked her up, and spun her around. Their eyes never left each other, and as their lips met in a searing kiss, their souls were forever bound to the other.

A/N: This story is meant as a one shot for a friend, but if you push that purple button a lot, and tell me you want more, well, then who am I to refuse.


	2. Do Over:Alex

**A/N: This was supposed to be a one shot, for my gorgeous friend, but those of you that reviewed liked it so much, that I decided to extend it. It's a story of any scene that I would re-write, were I Shonda Rhimes. The stories will be in no way connected, a series of do-overs. Feel free to e-mail me any scenes you would like me to re-write. Thank you to all of you who have reviewed.**

Summery:_ What would happen if we got one do over in life? What would we use it on? Where would we even begin?_

**Do Over: Alex**

_Do you believe in Kindred Spirits? I never did, _Meredith thought. _That is until I met Derek Shepherd. McDreamy, __**my**__ McDreamy, the supposed love of my life McShattered my heart into a million pieces. He had to go back to his wife, Satan, right? He just couldn't give up on 11 years of marriage, right? Why would he for dark and twisty Meredith Grey. He met a girl in a bar because he was tired of breathing for me._ As I make my way across the street to Joe's, I think of the one person that has been there through it all.

_Alex Karev. He is the one person that has stuck with me through some of my darkest moments. He was there when my mother was brought into SGH for the first time. I tried to keep my mothers illness a secret from her colleagues at the hospital but that was not meant to be. She was wheeled in screaming at the top of her lungs that I should stay away from her when she is working. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and have the earth swallow me whole. As I cowered in the corner, I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders. I looked around, and there stood Alex. I was surprised to see him there, but his presence behind me is not an unwelcome one._

"Alex," I started. "I don't..."

"Ssh," He whispered. "You don't have to explain anything, not to me, not ever."

_I had only known Alex for a little over a year, and in that time he had proven to be a cut throat surgeon, an evil spawn, and a manwhore, but somehow that didn't bother me. I felt strangely connected to this man, and I am not exactly sure when it started, but I know that I didn't want it to end. _I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I allowed his hands on my shoulders to give me the confidence I needed to get through the day.

_Everyone is looking at me,_ I groaned inwardly as I made my way through the cafeteria.My pager went off, and I turned and left at a light jog. I made my way to the nurses' station, and found out Derek wanted Alex and I to scrub in on a surgery on a girl who blushes at the drop of a hat. George and the Chief interrupted our surgery to get me to sign some consent form for my mother to have a liver biopsy. I gave George my consent, and as I waited for the results, I felt a familiar presence by my side. _Alex._

"How are you Meredith?" He asked.

"I'm fine."

"You can say I'm fine as many times as you want, but that doesn't make it true," He said honestly. _Alex was nothing, if not brutally honest._

"You know me too well." I smiled. "What I am about to say is going to sound terrible Alex, but I almost wish she has cancer. Seriously, what kind of a daughter wishes their mother has cancer?"

"The kind that doesn't want their mother to suffer," He replied.

My mother ended up not having cancer, but she died two years later of a heart condition. Alex was there then too. _Alex is always there_

_We have a give and take relationship. He gives and I take. I give and he takes. _As I stood looking at the door of Joe's Bar, I thought of another time when Alex and I were there for each other.

_We both were standing outside my house, watching Izzie host Thanksgiving Dinner. Neither one of us wanted to go in. _

"I failed my boards." He said quietly. I gently out my hand on his arm.

"I suppose you want an explanation?" He asked.

"You don't have to explain anything to me Alex, not to me, not ever." I said repeating his words. He smiled at the shared memory. We just sat in comfortable silence. Each of us glad, that the other was there, but not bold enough to admit it. I helped Alex study for his practicals, we all did actually, and he passed. I put my hand on the handle of the door of the bar and contemplated going in. I thought back to a time in recent weeks that Alex was there for me even though I never asked him to be.

I slammed the front door, and ran up the stairs. I could barely contain the sob that threatened to escape. _How could Derek do this to me? How could I let him do this to me?_ Alex had heard me come, and he followed me up the stairs. He opened the door to my room quietly. He knew me well enough to just sit in the chair next to my bed until I looked up at him.

"Derek said he couldn't breathe for me," Meredith sobbed out, and crawled in Alex's lap on the chair. "How could he say that Alex? How could he do that to me? To us?" She hiccupped out.

"I don't know Mere," Alex soothed, his anger for shepherd growing by the minute. "I do know that if he won't breathe for you, I will."

Meredith sighed, and fell asleep in Alex's arms. They woke up that way in the morning, but made no mention of what happened the night before. I went back to Derek the next day, but it was never the same.

As I started to open the door to the bar, I felt a familiar presence behind me. _Alex. I figured out in that moment that Derek Shepherd was not my kindred spirit, my soul mate, if you will, but rather it was Alex Karev. The man who had been right behind me the entire time. Always there, never being intrusive, but there just the same. I know what I would do over. I would not be afraid of my feelings for Alex, but rather embrace them, cherish them. _I turned around and gave him the most brilliant smile I could muster. I looked down at our hands, and linked our fingers together. I linked our futures together. If he was surprised, he didn't show it. He simply brought his other hand to caress my cheek. Something fundamental changed in our relationship in that moment, and we both knew it.

"Derek and I are through," I explained. "By through, I mean seriously through."

"You don't have to explain anything Mere, not to me, not ever." Alex said softly.

"Actually, I want to," I explained. "You see Alex; I have been in love with you for as long as I can remember." Meredith searched his face for anything that might give her hope. He did not disappoint.

He slowly drew her closer to him, and kissed her with three years of pent up passion. When he released her, he smiled and said, "Well, that's good Meredith, because I love you too, and have forever."

They slowly turned away from Joe's, their eyes and fingers still linked, and realized that this do over would last a lifetime.

A/N: This story is AU of all the Mer/Alex scenes in the show. This story will probably be considered out of character for Alex, but that's why I made it AU. For all of you Mer/Der fans, fear not, the Mer/Der goodness will continue. This story is just one do over. There will be more to come. None of these stories are connected. For all you Mer/Alex fans, I hope you enjoyed. Please review, I love them almost as much as Grey's.


	3. Do Over: Mark

A/N: This chapter uses scenes from Yesterday and Where the Boys Are.

A/N 2: Thank you to all of my reviewers. I live for your input. If you have a favorite scene please drop me a line, and let me know.

Chapter 3: Do Over:Mark

_What would happen if we got one do over in life? What would we use it on? Where would we even begin?_

Derek is taking space. _What the hell does that mean?_ Meredith thought miserably as she stood to wait for the elevator. The elevator doors opened and there stood Mark McSteamy Sloan. _Can this day get any worse?_ She thought. He actually had the audacity to stand there and look all McSteamy. I step onto the elevator, and glare at him.

"Rule number one, no flirting," I say as I begin to enumerate the rule using my fingers.

"I didn't realize that the DMC had rules Meredith," Mark said smugly. "I am the founding member so therefore I should get to set the rules."

Meredith interrupted him, pushing her petite hand against his chest. "If you and I are going to make this friendship thing work, there has to be some rules." She paused as she watched him slowly take in her words. "Rule number two no talking about Derek."

"Yeah like that's going to be a problem." He laughed sarcastically.

Meredith shot him a glare as she pressed on. "Rule number three, no McSteamy face.

He stared quizzically at her. "McSteamy face?"

"Yes, you know the face that you get that makes every woman want to tear your clothes off," She replied.

"Could you tell me the next time I am making that face, so maybe I can duplicate it," He asked earnestly.

Meredith laughed out loud at his question. It had been a long time since she laughed and it felt good. They both got off the elevator, and continued down the hall.

Their day went by in a whirlwind. They worked side by side for the better part of the day, and didn't fight once. They would each steal a side long glance at the other when they thought they wouldn't get caught. They had an interesting case that had Meredith thinking. It was a sexual reassignment case. The patient was a man, but wanted to become a woman. I saw Mark in a new light that day. It was almost like I was having an out of body experience. Mark was kind and gentle when he explained to our patient that he/she had breast cancer. He listened as the patient listed her reasons for wanting to surgery and he deftly performed said surgery with grace and skill.

We sat at Joe's bar after our shifts, both needing to escape for a while.

"I'm breaking rule number two," Meredith murmured as she slammed back her first shot of tequila.

"By all means," Mark replied waving a hand between them.

"Derek said he needed space," Meredith whispered. "That's why I was so upset in the elevator.

Mark suddenly understood everything. _Derek is a fucking idiot _He thought.

"Well Derek is a damn fool," He stated harshly. I may be an egotistical, self centered manwhore but I don't run, I don't hide, and I don't take space.

Mark paused and let his words sink in before continuing. "You are a smart, beautiful, sexy woman Meredith and any guy would kill to have you. This could just be a drink, or this could be more then just a drink. This could be an opportunity to start fresh." He placed his hand over hers. "Lets both start fresh Meredith. This could be a chance to wipe the slate clean, a chance to move on from Derek and Addison, a chance to move on with each other." His pager went off and he looked down at it. "I'll be back." Mark slid off his stool and walked away.

He left Meredith with a lot to think about. Mark was definitely not a bad guy. He was so unlike his manwhore persona. Starting fresh with him sounded very appealing to her. Meredith was so lost in her thoughts that she did not notice Derek sneak up behind her. He tapped her on the shoulder and she swung around to meet his eyes.

"Hi! I'm Derek Shepherd," He said extending his hand. Meredith looked at him with confusion, so he pushed on. "When we first met here we knew nothing about each other. There was no boss/intern conflict, no wife, no Finn, and no Mark." The mention of Marks name snapped Meredith out of the fog she had been in. She glanced up and saw Mark over Derek's shoulder. Mark gave her a nod and a small smile. In that moment she flashed back to moment two years ago, when Mark first arrived in town. Derek had punched him for flirting with her, and she was cleaning him up.

----Flashback-----

_We're the Dirty Mistresses. _Mark had said._ It's funny that Derek walked in on Addison and me in the throes of lovemaking and he just walked away. Addison was his wife for eleven years and he walked away without a word and he catches me just talking to you and suddenly I'm making friends with the hospital floor._

----End of Flashback----

It was in that moment that Meredith decided she was tired of being a dirty mistress and wanted it to end.

"No Derek," She stated firmly as she rose from her bar stool. "You walked away. You picked Addison. After the prom, you said you needed space, and like a fool I gave it to you. No more! There are no more beginnings for us anymore Derek this is the end." Derek was shocked and couldn't even respond as she moved past him.

Meredith had not taken he eyes off Mark the entire time she was speaking to Derek. She paused, and stretched her hand out in an invitation for him to take it. _Pick me, choose me, love me._ She silently begged.

Mark took the three steps necessary to move past Derek and take Meredith's outstretched hand in his own. He gently pulled her to his side. They moved toward the door, both hopeful for a bright and shiny new beginning. Meredith paused at the door and looked back at the bar and Derek flirting with a leggy brunette at the end of the bar. She shook her head in disgust. _Who is the manwhore now?_ she thought as she went through the door with Mark. Both of them were happy and secure with their new beginning.

A/N: Please hit the purple button, and review. They make my day. Thanks also to my muse who helped get started with this chapter. :)


	4. Author's Note

**Author's Note: Do Over**

**I am writing this author's note to let you (my faithful readers) know that I will be out of town until the end of next week. I had fully intended to update one more time before I left, but life got in the way. Please feel free to send me a message with any scenes you would like me to rewrite. I promise to have an update soon after my return. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews.**

**Murgy31 (Bethany)**


	5. Author's Note 2

A/N: To all of my faithful readers of Do Over.

I have not forgotten about you. I am in the process of writing an update as I write this to you. Just hold tight for a little longer. Thanks so much for reading...Bethany


	6. Do Over: Derek

A/N: I am so sorry that this update is so long in coming. I got back from my cruise and then proceeded to get sick. :(! I am feeling better now.

A/N 2: Thank you to all who have reviewed this story. I only hope you haven't forgotten about me. This chapter rewrites a scene from "Break on Through." Grey's does not belong to me. It is ABC's and Shonda's.

Do Over: Derek

_What would happen if we got one do over in life? What would we use it on? Where would we even begin?_

My mother was sick for a long time before she died. It still didn't make her death any easier. I leaned against the ferry railing and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to think of a time that was a little more harried and painful.

----Flashback-----

I had visited my mother often when she was in the nursing home. Granted it was not as often as I would have liked, but I am an intern what does she expect? I would go there before I had to be at the hospital for rounds as 0ften as I could, which according to my mother was not often enough. One day when I was coming in the door I asked the nurses the perfunctory questions.

"How is my mother this morning?" I asked.

"She is having a lucid day today," The nurse replied. "We think that her visits with her gentleman friend are really helping her."

Gentlemen friend? My mother didn't have any friends. At least not ones that I was aware of. I looked into the solarium and saw a sight that I was not prepared for. Chief Webber was sitting on the couch holding my mothers hand talking about the good old days. The moment seemed almost intimate; I did not want to intrude. I spun around in a daze and stumbled toward the door, going out exactly the way that I had come in.

I sat in my car staring distractedly at the hospital. Why did my life have to be so complicated? The only true constant in my life was this hospital. _Time to get to work Meredith._ She thought as she got out of the car and made her way into the hospital.

She really didn't expect this day to be any different from any other day. Why should it be, it was after all her life. She made her way down the hall to the room that Dr. Bailey had assigned her. She still couldn't shake the image of Chief Webber and her mother together. She was walking down the hall when she heard a woman cry out from a room to her left. She ran in and the woman was obviously in distress. She kept calling out for someone named Len.

"Please, I need a nurse in here!" Meredith yelled down the empty hallway. _Damn, they are all on strike!_ Meredith did the only thing she could and she intibated her patient. She sighed and stepped back from the patient when she was finished. _This could be my mother one day._ She thought. Meredith wondered if her mother would be like this woman and die alone. _Not if I can help it._ She thought, as she headed out to find the Chief, but before she could do that she was stopped by three very angry looking women.

"What have you done to Grace?" The woman in the center asked. "She is supposed to be getting end of life care, not have a bunch of tubes sticking out of her."

"I am so sorry," Meredith explained. "I had no idea that she had a DNR." _I am such an idiot. I was so preoccupied with my mother that I didn't bother to read her chart and now I have to kill her because of it._

"What's going on in here Dr. Grey?" The Chief demanded.

"I didn't read the patients chart and I intibated her when she had a DNR." Meredith explained. _Why do I get myself into these messes? _

"If she has a DNR, you will have to extibate her Dr. Grey," The Chief stated firmly and with that he turned and strode out of the room.

Meredith hurried to catch up with him. _I have to talk to him. My mother's life depends on it._ She finally caught up with him and gathered up her courage to talk to him about her mother. _I really have to stop avoiding things. It is not healthy for me or anyone around me._

"The nurses at my mother's nursing home tell me that you visit her three times a week." Meredith started. The chief looked startled at this and was waiting for Meredith to tell him to stop visiting her mother.

"I saw you there this morning," Meredith continued. "I stopped to visit her before rounds. My point is that I think that you should continue to visit her. My mother needs all the friends that she can get right now." Meredith turned and left the Chief to his thoughts.

_I do not want to do this. _Meredith thought miserably as she stood over Grace, ready to take her tube out. The goodbyes had been said and she could not help but feel that this would be her in a few years. She would be dealing with saying goodbye to her own mother. She only wished that she would be strong enough to let someone get close enough to her to help her through her own mothers death. Grace died a peaceful death two hours later, surrounded by her friends and daughter. Her loving husband waiting for her on the other side.

She stepped out of the room and grief overtook her. She could not breathe due to the force of the emotion that she was feeling. She is going to live and die alone. She is dark, twisty and damaged, why would anyone want her? She thought she quietly slipped into the supply closet unseen, but Derek had been watching her since she left Grace's room.

Derek thought it was odd that Meredith turned away from the nurse's station when she exited her patient's room so he kept his eyes trained on her. He observed every single movement she made. He was concerned when she exited the room, but he was downright worried when he saw her stagger into the nearest supply closet. He followed her passing Addison as he went.

The sight that befell him when he entered the supply closet scared the crap out of him. Meredith was sitting on a chair taking in large gulping breaths. Derek crouched down to her level and placed his fingers under chin and raised it to meet his eyes. Meredith immediately starts sobbing and speaking at the same time, while still hyperventilating.

"I don't. I can't," She sobbed out. "I don't want my mother to die alone."

Derek wanting to both comfort Meredith and stop her from hyperventilating did the only thing that he could think of. He sat down on the floor and pulled her into his arms. He placed her head on his chest so her ear was over his heart.

"Meredith," He whispered softly. "I want to you listen to me. Can you do that?" He felt her nod against his chest so he continued. "I want to you to listen to my heartbeat and breathe with my heart. Easy, gentle breathes Meredith." She did as she was asked and soon her breathing slowed and her body began to relax against his. Derek then began to relax himself and pulled her closer to him. They sat in comfortable silence.

"I don't want to end up alone Derek," Meredith whispered in the darkness of the supply closet.

"As long as I breathe Meredith, you will never be alone," Derek whispered back. In that moment both of their lives were changed forever. She leaned up and softly kissed him on the lips. The momentary shock made him hesitate before returning her kissed with equal passion. The need for air made them pull ever so slightly apart. In an instant three lives would be changed forever.

----End of Flashback----

Meredith felt Derek slide his arms around her and pull her toward him. They had been together for the last two years and they were due to get married next month. The last couple of years have been absolute peaceful bliss. Derek signed his divorce papers as soon as they left the supply closet. He and Addison parted on good terms and he was repairing his friendship with Mark. They had begun construction on their house and Meredith had sold her house to Alex and Addie. They were living in the trailer until they could move into the house after they get back from their honeymoon.

_My mother didn't die alone._ Meredith thought._ She was surrounded by her family and friends in a hospital she loved. It didn't make her death any easier, just more bearable. I would have to say that my life right now is definitely bright and shiny and I intend to keep it that way._

_A/N: There may be a slight delay on the Alerts, so I hope all of you find this story. Thank you to all who have read and reviewed! Please do so again, they make me very happy:)_


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